Erica Synths teased us with a video of a sparking xenon-filled tube in what appeared to be a Eurorack module. They have now revealed it as the Plasma Drive High Voltage Distortion Unit and it’s a thing of beauty.

Plasma Drive

Gamechanger Audio is another Latvian company and this Erica/Gamechanger development is a perfect collaboration. It’s like twice the darkness, double the blackness and so bad-ass that you know you have to have it glowing in your Eurorack.

In a nutshell the Plasma Drive boosts audio signal to 3000V and transforms it into a series of continuous high-voltage discharges in a deliciously dark and ominous xenon-filled tube light show. It’s like playing with lightning, no actually it’s literally playing with lightning. The electrical discharges are converted back into an analogue audio signal giving you an otherworldly distortion.

CV control is provided over distortion level, dry/wet mix, and octaves up and down. The octaves control tracking oscillators that derive harmonics from the original signal – they can also be manually triggered and disabled. Otherwise, you’ve got a bit of control over bass and treble, input level and voltage. It’s very much like the Plasma pedal but with a shed load more control and a 1000 more applications.

Erica Synths Plasma Drive

Looking forward to having a go on one of these. Should be available at the end of February – no price as yet.